While electoral politics tends to suck the oxygen out of the room
(and apparently out of many people's brains) in these last few weeks
before an election, a number of U.S. citizens committed to ending the
wars took to the streets this week. Demonstrations in at least 38 cities in the U.S. as well as in some foreign countries -- most notably Code Pink's courageous peace march in Pakistan -- are marking the 11th year anniversary of the longest war in U.S. history.

Veteran Michael Prysner accurately described the heartbreak of the current situation in Afghanistan as a "lost war and pointless mission"
that is now sacrificing "life and limb for (nothing but) a slow-motion
retreat" for politicians and generals to save face. The broader
situation throughout the Middle East appears bleaker still inasmuch as
the original congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force
(AUMF) that began the war on Afghanistan has been expansively
interpreted to now encompass covert "special forces operations", cyber
warfare, and drone bombing in at least five other countries.
Additionally the recent National Defense Authorization Act even allows
indefinite detentions of American citizens.

Naturally, more than a few of us have begun to lose hope in any American
politician getting the country out of the wars, quagmires and messes
created by other politicians. However, by recalling Lord Acton's
immutable principle as well as Eisenhower's warning about the corrosive
impact of the Military Industrial Complex, we see that the lower levels
of city and state governments are inherently more reachable and less
subject to corruption than the higher and more powerful levels of
federal government. The notion that more real hope exists at the
grassroots, civil society and city council level is being borne out.

Ask yourself and then your city council: "What mostly trickles down:
prosperity or austerity?" This week residents of my city (Apple
Valley), as in other Minnesota cities and local governing bodies, will
ask our city council the following questions:

1) Can we spend trillions on war without cutting essential services on the local level?
2) Tell us about "Community Development Block Grants." Has our city seen cuts?
3) What are the ramifications? How much does the federal government spend on war and how much on local communities in the US?
4) How many local tax dollars have been spent to fund recent wars and an escalating Pentagon budget while local needs go unmet?

- Advertisement -

At the same time, we will also ask our City Council to consider putting the following draft resolution on their formal agenda:

City councils prove receptive

Undoubtedly there are some mayors and city councilpersons who might
want to shrug off the responsibility of connecting these dots despite
the fact that their cities and city residents are the ones paying the
price of these costly national wars. But it shouldn't be necessary to
bring our tents or camping gear to make city officials seriously think
about this. Already several major cities around the country including
Los Angeles, CA, Philadelphia, PA and Hartford, CT have signed on. The U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a similar resolution
in June of 2011. Also, the "Women Legislators' Lobby," including 36 MN
women legislators, signed a letter calling for "responsible cuts in
military spending."

- Advertisement -

Yesterday, October 10, 2012, the Saint Paul City Council voted unanimously to pass the resolution calling for a reduction and redirection of
military spending back to local communities! The St. Paul City Council
joined a statewide week of action during the 11 year anniversary of the
Afghan War. This resolution was brought forward by the Minnesota Arms
Spending AlternativesProject (MN ASAP). MN ASAP is a non-partisan
citizen-based initiative using a simple resolution process to build
political support to shift federal spending priorities from war to
meeting essential needs. MN ASAP's goal is to build sufficient political
power and influence statewide from representatives at all levels of
government and from non-governmental organizations and civic groups to
effectively demand a shift in priorities from war spending to meeting
essential needs.

The group Minnesota Arms Spending Alternatives Project (MN ASAP)
is approaching city councils around the state, asking them to connect
the dots between federal military spending and cuts to local city
council budgets, i.e. Community Development Block Grants, which come
from the Federal Discretionary Budget.

Activists around Minnesota -- in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Eagan, Apple
Valley, Mounds View, Circle Pines, Lakeville, and Duluth (so far) --
have been pursuing their council members via email, phone calls, office
visits, or by speaking during the public hearing sessions (open
microphone sessions). In Minneapolis, a majority of council members
have individually endorsed the resolution and it is hoped an official
vote will soon be scheduled there. Also noteworthy is the personal
endorsement of our resolution by Rep. Keith Ellison who urges the
Minneapolis City Council to debate and vote in favor of our resolution.